FInal Shots

After thinking about different ideas for where to shoot my final images, I kept landing on the idea of shooting them in water, as it would tie in to the theme of the shoot taking place on Earth, as most of the planet is water. I also found this a lot easier to shoot as there wasn't as many issues with the back-rounds of the images being too distracting.

 

 

 

 

These images were taken together in a bath, with Vaseline and glitter on the skin that then transferred into the water.

This image I took after I had finished shooting other images, and decided to use it as my front cover.

 

I shot this image in the bath after painting the hands using supra-colour and adding some glitter.

I then edited using the clone stamp feature on Photoshop to get rid of the little finger, to create alien looking hands.

 

 Overall I included over 2o images, mostly close-up and cropped images so it wasn't always clear what was being looked at, creating a sense of unease.

I was very happy with my final images, much more than my first attempt and am very happy that I had the chance to retake.

Test Shots

I decided to do test shooting outside for this project, mainly as I wanted to see if the glitter/shimmer looks worked better in natural sunlight. I didn't add too much to this look as I just wanted to see how the colours and products would show up.

 

I played around with changing the eye colours at this point, as I knew I wanted to incorporate the yellow eyes in my project as this is a heavy theme in 'The Man Who Fell to Earth.'.  I decided that this would definitely be included in my final images.

 

I decided after doing these that maybe shooting outside wasn't the best option to do the majority of the shoots just because  I felt that the look wasn't 'alien' enough as the back-round made it look more like test shoots overall as opposed to being my Final Major Project.

 

Retaking

After I received my final grade for my FMP, I was very disappointed. I decided that I definitely wanted to try again and after a tutorial with Sharon, decided  to rename my project, 'The man who fell to Earth'. This will be inspired by the David Bowie film of the same name and will look at the idea of texture of the skin rather than creating a full SFX alien look. This will be presented in an online magazine rather than a file. This will be an easier and clearer way to display my images and work.

It was clear that I needed to produce more looks images for the project so I started test shots and ideas on my own skin of the kind of things I could use, including glitter, crystals and other colours.

 

Day of Shoot

Materials used:

·        Liquid Latex

·        Bald cap

·        Spirit Gum

·        Snazaroo Dark Green Paint 

·        Aqua colour palette

·        Spirit Gum remover

·        Acetone

·        99% alcohol

·        Translucent powder

·        Contact lenses

·        Stipple sponges and brushes

I found all of these products easy to use (most likely as I have used them all before) and am glad I decided on these ones. It was important to me to haver a list of everything I was planning to use, even if they weren’t obvious in the end look (such as Acetone) as I wanted to make sure there was nothing my model was allergic to and gave her a list before hand so she would know everything that was being used.

 

Method:

·        I started of my prepping the skin using with a toner and asking my model to put her contact lenses in (she prefers to do it herself than have someone else doing it).

·        I then applied the bald cap, first cutting it to shape and then applying spirit gum around all edges. After this had dried I applied my pre-made latex prosthetic covering the forehead and nose.
 

·        I then used a stippling sponge to apply latex to the face, chest and neck to create a more rigid and more alien-esque appearance. This required a few layers in order to get rid of some of the edges for the bald car and latex piece.

·        I had to then wait for this to dry before I could apply anything else. I used a hair dryer on a cold setting to help speed this process up.

·        I then used my foundation brush and another stippling sponge to apply to colour all over. For my colour I used my Snazaroo Dark Green mixed with the black from my Aqua colour palette, both of which are water activated.
 

Problems and Solutions

Due to focusing my attention on one look, I only needed to find one model to work with for the shoots. I had a lot of issues early on as I find bald caps difficult to work with. I think that this is mostly due to the fact that I don't have a lot of practice and find them very difficult to use in models with long hair.

I decided on my model, Fran, as she has a shaved head and I felt it would be a better application for the bald cap. The bald cap was a really important part of my look as I wanted it to be as alien-esque as possible.

I found myself having problems during this year related to different medical issues. At one point I didn’t think I would be able to finish the course and thought that I might give up and drop out or try to defer.

I eventually decided as I was already so far in and close to the end that I really wanted to finish. I definitely didn’t get to put in as much time into this project as I would’ve liked to and feel that I did let myself down due to this.

Creating My File

As this project is a physical hand in, I decided to create something a bit different. As I am focusing on the Roswell crash that was supposedly covered up by the government, I have decided to hand in my project in the form of a classified US government file.

To do this, I had to look up real US government files in an attempt to create something similar. I found various websites containing files that looked very real.

Design Process

I based my look partly off real accounts and ideas and was also inspired by different looks from films. I know I wanted to create a face piece to make sure that my look didn’t just look like a person covered in paint.

I researched many different ways of working with special effects materials and I originally wanted to work with silicone pieces, however after testing different ideas I decided that I wanted to use latex and putty instead so that I would have more freedom when creating my look.

I started off just practicing layering the skin with latex to create a skin surface that didn’t look very human. This was easily achieved using a stipple sponge with latex and stippling it all over the skin, waiting for each layer to dry and them applying another one. I really liked the way this looked and it was a much better alternative than just leaving the natural skin texture as it was as it did look very alien.

I also tested with different colours on top of this such as black, grey, green and brown shades. I decided one the green mainly because I felt that most of the accounts I researched appeared to include this colour.

I created my face piece using latex. I did this by using my KATE head from first year as a base to build clay onto the face. The piece would just be covering part of the forehead and nose. I found it quite difficult to sculpt the piece when it was on the face, I think because it was hard to reach different angles to blend and because it’s a different shape to a real face.

 I covered the clay with 99% Alcohol and then applied my latex onto using a stippling brush. It took me a few different attempts to get this right as this isn’t really a technique than I am used to. I did find this way a lot easier than using silicone though, as it was a more simple and faster process. Overall, I did find that the more I practiced the better the pieces looked and I as very pleased with the final outcome.
 

(practice pieces)